How long does it take to make a lab diamond?
Instantaneous pleasure is one of the hallmarks of our new world.
Push a button and be transported.
Swipe right for love
Take a pill to relieve the pain…
Anything that takes time probably takes too much time by modern standards.
Even mining takes too long to pull sufficient quantities of gold out of the ground to satisfy our never ending hunger for the sun colored precious metal.
In fact, your new gold and diamond engagement ring may use metal that was mined thousands of years ago.
We now recycle more gold than we mine, by perhaps more than 1000 tons a year, representing almost 28 percent of the total global gold supply. And as mines and untouched resources are depleted or become unreliable or out of reach, the amount of gold recycled from landfills and other sources will only increase.
The same, to a certain extent, can be said for diamonds. Have you ever wondered: how long it takes to make a lab-grown diamond versus a natural diamond?
The good news is that while the age-old alchemic dream of turning ordinary materials into gold hasn’t panned out, we have succeeded in making diamonds from scratch in laboratories.
The better news: today it takes very little time, material and energy to produce gem-quality manufactured diamonds that will take your breath away.
Join us in this article while we examine how long it takes to make a lab-grown diamond.
What is a diamond?
Real diamonds (both natural and lab diamonds) are crystals of pure carbon arranged in a particular kind of atomic structure- a tetrahedral structure. This unique atomic crystal structure is why diamonds are so hard, translucent, and refractive.
They are formed in specific conditions, either deep in the earth near the earth's mantle or in laboratories across the world.
How Do Earth-Mined Diamonds Form?
Diamonds found in nature form when extremely high temperatures and extreme pressure are exerted on carbon-bearing fluids, (sometimes from an organic carbon source) to cause the carbon atoms to rearrange and crystallize into a tetrahedral arrangement.
(Actually, it's a lot more complicated than that…)
Formation happens deep, deep, beneath the earth's surface the crust and mantle of the earth’s interior meet, about 150-700 kilometers down.
In primordial volcanic eruptions, each with more explosive force than hundreds of nuclear bombs, the diamonds that formed deep within the earth were shot up to the surface. These eruptions, called Kimberlites, are unique among the volcanic eruptions because they are so particularly powerful, start so deep, and move material so fast, but appear to be shorter-lived and smaller than the eruptions that build up volcanic cones, such as Mt. Fuji. It's actually a miracle that so many diamonds even survive the (only) minutes-long journey from deep within the earth. The pressures and temperatures sustained in kimberlite eruptions are so overwhelming that it's possible that many of the diamonds that start the journey never make it to the surface.
There haven’t been any kimberlite eruptions for many millions of years, and it is theorized that they only occurred when the whole planet was a much hotter, more molten place. There may never be any new ones, and the estimated quadrillion diamonds buried deep within the earth may never escape its fiery depths.
But look on the bright side, it might not be raining diamonds from deep within the earth, but the ground isn’t exploding and it isn’t raining hot lava either…
How long does it take natural diamonds to form?
The amount of time it takes for diamonds to form in nature may vary considerably based on the conditions in which they are growing. In fact, some diamonds may start to grow, and then stop when conditions change, only to resume growing later when conditions become favorable again.
What we know is that most of the diamonds mined today formed between 1-3 billions years ago. But we don’t know how long it took for many of those diamonds to form. It is speculated that the actual growing time may vary between a matter of hours to millions of years.
But formation alone isn’t enough to make the stone on your engagement ring.
Once it's blasted close to the surface, it subsequently waits, very patiently until some human (presumably) comes along and digs it out of the ground.
Then the newly mined, rough (uncut) diamond now travels from the mine to a warehouse and sorting center, where its basic value is appreciated. All gem quality stones are then (eventually) sent to cutters, (somewhere in the world,) who turn the motley rough into a sparkling, faceted gemstone of incredible value and beauty.
How is a lab-created Diamond Made?
In the 1950’s the long-time alchemic dream of producing diamonds from scratch in laboratory conditions was finally realized, and since then the market for lab created diamonds has increased dramatically. While originally used to produce only industrial diamonds, the quality of the gems produced has advanced and now rivals even the most exquisite mined diamonds. With modern cutting edge technology we can grow diamonds that are almost exactly equivalent to mined diamonds in less than a month. Not only can we make white diamonds, but we are able to make colored diamonds, including ever more popular fancy blue and fancy yellow diamonds.
There are two main processes to create lab diamonds: High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
How long does it take to make a lab-grown diamond?
Lab-grown diamonds are made primarily via the CVD Method and the HPHT Method. They have the same chemical composition, physical properties, and optical effects as mined diamonds. Today, cultured diamonds come in the same clarity grades and colors as mined diamonds.
How long it takes to grow a diamond depends on several factors, from the method used to the quality of the equipment, and to what carat weight the technicians want the diamond to grow.
HPHT Lab Diamonds
HPHT diamond production replicates the process by which most diamonds are believed to be produced deep within the earth, namely by heating and pressurizing pure carbon until it turns into a scintillating crystal.
In an HPHT system, special vices containing a seed diamond (which can be either a natural or synthetic diamond), a metal catalyst and pure carbon are heated to between 1300 and 1600 Celcius and pressurized up to or even exceeding 900,000 psi.
As the pure carbon melts it flows through the metal catalyst and towards the slightly cooler seed diamond, onto which it crystallizes, growing the diamond seed.
One disadvantage of this process is that only one diamond at a time can be grown in an HPHT press. Another disadvantage of hpht diamonds is that some of the metal catalyst may become embedded as an inclusion.
One major advantage of this method is that the diamond will continue to grow larger as long as there is available carbon supply.
With the tremendous modern advancements of the last few years we are now producing lab diamonds of exceptional quality (read:few if any inclusions) and exceeding 100 carats.
It takes anywhere from a few days to months to grow an HPHT diamond depending on the advancement of the equipment involved and how large the laboratory wants to grow the diamond.
CVD Diamonds
The CVD diamond production method replicates the process by which diamonds may form in space out of carbonaceous interstellar clouds. (Don’t worry there won’t be a quiz…)
CVD lab-created diamonds are formed in a depressurized vacuum chamber filled with carbon rich gas (such as carbon dioxide) as well as hydrogen and oxygen, and diamond seeds onto which the new lab diamonds will grow. The chamber is heated by microwaves, lasers, or a hot filament to about 800 or 900 degrees Celsius, which causes the carbon atoms to split from their host molecules and fall, like snow, onto a diamond seed at the bottom of the chamber. As they collect on the seed they crystalize, growing the new lab diamond.
One great advantage of this method is that so many diamonds can be produced at once, unlike the HPHT diamond process.
However, producing a single carat of CVD diamond can take longer, anywhere from several days to a month. As the diamonds grow in the CVD process, graphite or other carbon crystals may also grow, which have to be removed frequently by laboratory technicians.
At Michael Gabriels
At Michael Gabriels, we use both CVD and HPHT lab diamonds, and recycled metals, to produce our sustainable and ethical jewelry. We put our over 100 years of experience at your disposal to design and create the perfect lab grown diamond ring for you. Check out our collection of completely customizable options or speak to one of our experts to find out how we can help you answer your questions or produce the perfect diamond jewelry you will love for a livetime.
